Theseus was
a king of Athens famous for many exploits, and appearing in works by
many authors and on countless vases, art and statues. There is some
confusion about Theseus' parentage - some say he is the son of Aegeus
and Aethra, and others the son of Poseidon and Aethra. The ancient Greek
writers Apollodoros and Hyginus say Aethra waded out to Sphairia after
sleeping with Aegeus, and lay there with Poseidon.

The next
day, Aegeus, who had been visiting Aethra at Troizen, left for his home
city of Athens. As he left, he left sandals and a sword under a large
rock; should Aethra bear a male child, she was to send him to Athens to
claim his birthright as soon as he was old enough to lift the rock and
retrieve the items.

Aethra gave
birth to Theseus, who came of age and set off for Athens with the sword
and sandals, encountering and defeating six murderous adversaries along
the way. When Theseus reached Athens, Medea, the wife of Aegeus,
persuaded Aegeus to kill the as of yet unrecognized Theseus by having
him attempt to capture the savage Marathonian Bull. Theseus does the
unexpected and succeeds, so Medea tells Aegeus to give him poisoned
wine. Aegeus recognizes Theseus' sword as he is about to drink and
knocks the goblet from his lips at the last second.

According to
Plutarch and Philochoros, on the way to Marathon to kill the bull,
Theseus encounters a fierce storm and seeks shelter in the hut of an old
woman named Hecale. She promises to make a sacrifice to Zeus if Theseus
comes back successful. He comes back, finds her dead, and builds a deme
in her name. Some time after Theseus return to Athens, trouble stirs and
blood flows between the houses of Aegeus in Athens and Minos, his
brother in Crete.

War and
drought ensues and an oracle demands that recompense be made to Minos.
Minos demands that seven maidens and seven youths are to be sacrificed
to the Minotaur every nine years. Theseus is among the chosen victims
and sails off to Crete, promising to Aegeus that his ship's black flag
would be replaced with a white flag if Theseus is victorious. In Crete,
Minos molests one of the maidens and Theseus becomes angry and
challenges him, boasting of his parentage by Poseidon. Minos, son of
Zeus is amused and asks Theseus to prove his heritage by retrieving a
ring from the depths of the ocean. Theseus being a son of Poseidon
succeeds.

Ariadne, a
young woman in Crete already betrothed to Dionysus, falls in love with
Theseus and helps him defeat the Minotaur. Ariadne then leaves Crete
with Theseus, who abandons her on Dia (at Athena's behest, according to
Pherekydes).

In returning
to Athens Theseus forgets to switch the black sail with the white one.
Aegeus, consequently, watching from afar believes his son is dead and
hurls himself into the sea, named the 'Aegean' after him. After Aegeus'
death, Theseus must contend against Pallas for the throne. Theseus gets
wind of a planned assassination against him and spoils the ambush,
killing Pallas and gaining the throne.

Theseus and
a good friend of his by the name of Pirithous want to marry daughters of
Zeus, and begin their quest by abducting Helen. Theseus wins a bet and
gets Helen, but must accompany Pirithous to Hades to recover Persephone
for him. There is much disagreement here about what happens in Hades,
but many traditions say only Theseus makes it back out.

Theseus does
two noteworthy patriotic acts to Thebes, accepting Oedipus at Kolonus,
and helping Adrastos bury the Seven, fallen in the struggle for the
throne of Thebes. Late in his life Theseus loses popularity in Athens
and is exiled. He wanders to Scyrus where he is hurled off a cliff by
Lycodemes.

THE
STORY OF THESEUS BY OVID

Theseus was
a great hero from Athens who was the son of the Greek king, Aegeus.
Theseus did not grow up with his father, but in fact his mother in
southern Greece. King Aegeus left Theseus with his mother before the
child was born. He left a sword and a pair of shoes in a hollow under a
stone. King Aegeus said that if Theseus, when he was old and strong
enough, could roll the stone away, then Theseus could travel to Athens
to claim himself as the son of the king. Theseus, at a young age,
accomplished this feat and his mother told him what to do.

His
grandfather left a ship for him to use to travel to Athens, but Theseus
declined the offer, saying that it would be too easy for him. Theseus
decided that it would be better to travel by land because he felt that
he wanted to become a great hero at a young age and he believed that the
safety of a ship was not the way to go about this. Theseus wanted to
become as great a hero as the famous Hercules, and Theseus always had
Hercules in his mind, trying to become as great a hero as Hercules. This
was quite natural considering that Hercules and Theseus were cousins.

So Theseus
made the trek by land. It would be a long and dangerous journey because
there were many bandits that roamed the countryside. To achieve the
greatness that Theseus believed he should achieve, he killed every
bandit on the way to Athens. Theseus' form of justice was very
effective: he believed that what each of the bandits had done to others,
Theseus must do to the bandits.

An example
of this occurred when Theseus met Sinis, a man famous for killing people
by strapping people to the trunks of two pine trees that were bent to
the ground. Sinis would then let the trees stand straight again, thus
hurling the victim that was strapped to the trees through the air to
their death. Theseus knew about this, and he killed Sinis by this
method.

There were
many other bandits that were killed by Theseus and he killed them using
the same method that each bandit used to kill their victims. When
Theseus arrived in Athens, he was praised by the people for his help to
kill the bandits in the country. The king invited him to the palace, not
knowing that Theseus was his son. In fact, the king was frightened that
since Theseus was so popular with the people that they might make
Theseus the king. So, King Aegeus invited Theseus to dinner with the
intention of poisoning him. This was not a plan of his, but a plan that
Medea had thought up.

Medea was
the heroine of the Quest of the Golden Fleece who fled from Corinth to
Athens in her flying chariot. She had obtained a great influence over
King Aegeus and didn't want to have that changed if a son appeared in
the life of the king. Theseus was invited to a splendid dinner with the
king. During the dinner as Medea handed the poisoned cup to Theseus,
Theseus drew his sword to reveal his identity to the king. As soon as
the king caught sight of the sword, he instantly recognized his son and
threw the poisoned cup to the ground. Medea, as she always did, fled
without a trace to Asia. Soon after, King Aegeus proclaimed that Theseus
was his son and heir. This gave Theseus the opportunity to endear
himself to the people of Athens.

Years before
the arrival of Theseus to Athens, a terrible misfortune happened to the
city. Minos, the ruler of Crete, lost his only son, Androgeus, while
visiting King Aegeus in Athens. Aegeus sent Androgeus on a dangerous
expedition, to kill a bull. This is something that a host should never
do. As a result, Androgeus was killed by the bull. Minos invaded the
country of Greece to avenge his son's death. He captured the country and
threatened to demolish it unless King Aegeus sent seven maidens and
seven youths to Crete every nine years. When the 14 Athenians arrived in
Crete, they were given to the Minotaur to devour. The Minotaur was a
creature that was half bull, half human which was the offspring of Minos'
wife, PasiphaŽ, and a beautiful bull. Poseidon had given the bull to
Minos with the assumption that Minos would sacrifice it to Poseidon but
Minos could not bear to kill the bull, so he kept it for himself.
Poseidon decided that Minos should be punished, so he made PasiphaŽ
fall in love with the bull.

When the
Minotaur was born, Minos did not kill it. Instead, he had Daedalus, a
great architect and inventor, build a place to confine the Minotaur so
the Minotaur could not escape. Daedalus built the Labyrinth, a structure
that was famous throughout the world. This was the place where the 14
Athenians were taken to when they were sent to Crete. Co-incidentally,
these 14 people were sent just after Theseus arrived in Athens.

After
hearing the story of Minos and the tributes to him every nine years,
Theseus offered to be one of the victims that was to be sent. Everyone
praised him for his nobility, but they had no idea that Theseus would
try to kill the Minotaur once inside the maze. He told his father that
if he was successful, he would change the sail of the ship that carried
the victims from black to white to tell the king of his success well in
advance of his arrival in Greece. This was to show that Theseus had
survived.

When the
victims arrived on the island of Crete, they were paraded around before
the inhabitants on their way to the maze. Ariadne, the daughter of Minos,
was one of the spectators and she fell in love with Theseus as soon as
she saw him. She quickly summoned for Daedalus to ask if there was a way
out of the Labyrinth. Ariadne promised Theseus the answer to getting out
of the Labyrinth if he would take her back to Athens and marry her. He
agreed to this compromise and she gave him a ball of thread which he
could attach to the entrance of the Labyrinth. This would allow him to
re-trace his steps whenever his wished.

So Theseus
made his way into the Labyrinth to find the Minotaur. He allowed the
ball of thread to unwind so that he could re-trace his journey later. It
wasn't long before he came across the Minotaur; the Minotaur was
sleeping. Theseus jumped on the creature and pinned him to the ground.
Then, Theseus proceeded to batter the beast to death. Once the Minotaur
was dead, he got up and found his ball of thread. Theseus instructed the
other people out of the maze while following the ball of thread that
guided the way. They boarded the ship that they arrived on and headed
towards Athens.

The ship
travelled to the island of Naxos where they briefly stopped over . There
are conflicting stories as to what happened on the island. The first
story said that while on the island, Theseus deserted Ariadne while she
slept on the island. The other story, which favours Theseus more, said
that Ariadne suddenly became seasick. As a result of this, she was left
on the island while Theseus stayed on the ship to do some necessary
work. A terrible storm carried him out to sea and when he returned, he
found that Ariadne had died.

Both stories
agree that when they sailed near Athens, Theseus forgot to put out the
white sail to show his success in Crete. It was either that he forgot to
hoist the sail or that he was filled with grief over the death of
Ariadne that he failed to put it out. As a result of his failure to
hoist the white sail, when King Aegeus saw the black sail at the
Acropolis he assumed that his son had died. He was so filled with grief
that he jumped off from a rocky cliff into the sea and was killed. The
sea into which he jumped was then, and still is known as the Aegean Sea.

Theseus was
made the King of Greece but he didn't want to be the king because he
felt that a people's government where everyone would be equal would be
better suited for Greece. He resigned his power and organized a
commonwealth, building a council hall where the citizens would gather
and vote. Theseus did keep the title of Commander in Chief of Greece.

As a result
of the change in government, Athens became the happiest and most
prosperous of all the cities on Earth. In fact, it was the only place in
the world where everyone governed themselves. It was for this that in
the War of Seven against Thebes when the victorious Thebans refused to
bury those of the enemy who had died, the defeated turned to Theseus for
help. Theseus led an army against Thebes and conquered her and forced
her to allow the dead to be buried. However, Theseus did not avenge the
evil that had taken place during the war. Instead, he refused to allow
his army to loot the city. He was the perfect knight.

Theseus
still had a love for danger. He went to the country of the Amazons, the
women warriors, and brought away one of them, whose name is given
sometimes as Antiope as well as Hippolyta in other cases. It is certain
that it was she who bore Theseus' child who was named Hippolytus. After
the birth of Hippolytus, the Amazons came to Greece to rescue her. They
invaded Attica and some say they made it as far as Athens itself but
were defeated by Theseus' army. After this, no other enemy invaded
Greece as long as Theseus lived.

He also took
part in many other adventures. He was one of the men that travelled on
the Argo that searched for the Golden Fleece. He also took part in the
Calydonian Hunt where he was one who tried to kill the boar that lay
waste on Calydon. He saved a man's life on this hunt, the life of
PirithoŁs. PirithoŁs was a man who was as adventurous as Theseus but
was not nearly as successful; he was always in trouble. Their friendship
developed after PirithoŁs wanted to test what a great hero Theseus was.
To test this, PirithoŁs decided to steal some cattle from Theseus in
Attica. When he found out that Theseus was pursuing him, PirithoŁs met
Theseus, wanting to see who the better man was. As impulsive as PirithoŁs
was, he submitted to Theseus and said that he would accept any penalty
that Theseus offered. After hearing this good gesture, Theseus asked
that he only need be a friend of his.

Another
example of Theseus' helpfulness occurred during the wedding of PirithoŁs
and his wife. Many Centaurs were invited to the reception. Centaurs are
animals that are half human and half horse. They were related to the
bride and they caused much trouble at the wedding. They became drunk and
seized the women. Theseus came to the defense of the bride who was being
carried off. A battle resulted from this incident between the Centaurs
and the Lapithae, the people of which PirithoŁs was the king. Theseus
helped to finally drive off the entire race of Centaurs from where the
Lapithae lived.

After the
death of his first wife, King PirithoŁs attempted to get the most
carefully guarded lady in the universe, that lady being Persephone.
Theseus agreed to help his friend because he liked this dangerous and
near impossible undertaking. Theseus suggested that PirithoŁs should
attempt to win over Helen, the heroine of Troy, who was only a child at
the time. PirithoŁs agreed and Theseus captured the young girl with
PirithoŁs hoping that he could marry her when she had grown. Helen had
two brothers, Castor and Pollux, and these two were more than a match
for any mortal hero.

When the two
brothers arrived where Helen had been taken to, PirithoŁs and Theseus
could not be found because they had slipped into the underworld. The
details of this journey are not known, but the Hades welcomed the two,
in hopes to amuse himself. When they arrived, Hades instructed them to
sit in two chairs, which were known as the Chairs of Forgetfulness.
Anyone who sat in these chairs forgot everything and did not move from
the chair. PirithoŁs remained in the chair forever, but Theseus was
lifted from the chair by Hercules when he travelled to the underworld
and brought him back to Earth. PirithoŁs remained because the King of
the Underworld knew that it was PirithoŁs who wanted to carry off
Persephone.

Later on in
his life he married Phaedra, the sister of Hippolyta, the Amazon woman
who had borne his son, Hippolytus. Great misfortunes fell upon them as a
result of this. Hippolytus grew up away from Theseus near the town where
Theseus himself had grown up. Hippolytus grew up to be a great hunter
and a strong man who despised people who lived in luxury and people who
were silly enough to fall in love. He disliked Aphrodite very much as a
result. He only praised Artemis, the huntress. When Theseus and Phaedra
travelled back to his home town, he met Hippolytus and a strong bond
between father and son grew. Hippolytus took no notice of his
stepmother, but Phaedra fell deeply in love with her stepson. This was a
punishment by Aphrodite to hurt Hippolytus for his hate for Aphrodite.

When one of
Phaedra's nurses realized that Phaedra wanted to kill herself, she
quickly went to Hippolytus and told him of the situation. The nurse told
him that Phaedra was in love with him. However, Hippolytus was disgusted
by the thought of love, but this guilty love sickened and horrified him.
He went to the courtyard of the house with the nurse following. Little
did he know that Phaedra was sitting there. Hippolytus did not see her
and continued on with the conversation saying that he would never love
any woman and that he would not enter the house again unless his father
was present there. As he turned around to leave, he spotted Phaedra.

Phaedra,
soon after this incident, killed herself. Theseus found out about this
after he made his way to the courtyard where the nurse was. The nurse
informed him of Phaedra's death. Phaedra had left a letter that was
addressed to Theseus. Theseus read the letter and was angered by it.
Theseus told his slaves that Hippolytus had killed his wife. Just as
this was occurring, Hippolytus entered the courtyard, wondering what the
problem was. He was unaware that the letter said that Hippolytus killed
Phaedra. He questioned his father on his stepmother's death. Theseus was
angered by what Hippolytus had said and based on what the letter had
said, Theseus punished him by sending him away in exile. But Hippolytus
told his story and swore on Zeus that he had not killed Theseus' wife.
Theseus did not believe him and maintained the banishment of Hippolytus
from Greece.

Hippolytus
left from Greece, but not in exile. Death was close at hand for
Hippolytus though. As he travelled in his chariot, a large sea monster
emerged from the water and caused the horses on the chariot to run away.
This knocked the chariot over and seriously hurt Hippolytus.

Theseus was
later told the truth by Artemis. She told him that the letter was
untruthfully written and that Phaedra was madly in love with Hippolytus.
Moreover, Hippolytus was innocent. As this happened, Hippolytus, who was
barely living, was carried in. Hippolytus proclaimed his innocence, and
only now did Theseus believe him, after hearing the truth from Artemis.
Artemis had said that it was Aphrodite who had killed Hippolytus. As
Artemis left from the presence of Theseus, Hippolytus died.

The death of
Theseus was wretched as well. He was at the court of a friend, King
Lycomedes. Many people said that he had gone there because he felt that
Athens had banished him. For some unknown reason, the king, who was his
friend, killed him. Even if the people of Athens had banished Theseus,
the people honoured him like no other mortal. They built a great tomb
for him and said that it would be a sanctuary for slaves and all people
who are helpless, in memory of one who through his life had been the
protector of the defenseless.

THE
STORY OF THESEUS BY THOMAS BULLFINCH

THESEUS was the son of
AEgeus, king of Athens, and of AEthra, daughter of the king of Troezen.
He was brought up at Troezen, and when arrived at manhood was to proceed
to Athens and present himself to his father. AEgeus on parting from
AEthra, before the birth of his son, placed his sword and shoes under a
large stone and directed her to send his son to him when he became
strong enough to roll away the stone and take them from under it. When
she thought the time had come, his mother led Theseus to the stone, and
he removed it with ease and took the sword and shoes. As the roads were
infested with robbers, his grandfather pressed him earnestly to take the
shorter and safer way to his father's country- by sea; but the youth,
feeling in himself the spirit and the soul of a hero, and eager to
signalize himself like Hercules, with whose fame all Greece then rang,
by destroying the evil-doers and monsters that oppressed the country,
determined on the more perilous and adventurous journey by land.

His first day's journey
brought him to Epidaurus, where dwelt a man named Periphetes, a son of
Vulcan (Hephaistos). This ferocious savage always went armed with a club
of iron, and all travellers stood in terror of his violence. When he saw
Theseus approach he assailed him, but speedily fell beneath the blows of
the young hero, who took possession of his club and bore it ever
afterwards as a memorial of his first victory.

Several similar contests
with the petty tyrants and marauders of the country followed, in all of
which Theseus was victorious. One of these evil-doers was called
Procrustes, or the Stretcher. He had an iron bedstead, on which he used
to tie all travellers who fell into his hands. If they were shorter than
the bed, he stretched their limbs to make them fit it; if they were
longer than the bed, he lopped off a portion. Theseus served him as he
had served others.

Having overcome all the
perils of the road, Theseus at length reached Athens, where new dangers
awaited him. Medea, the sorceress, who had fled from Corinth after her
separation from Jason, had become the wife of AEgeus, the father of
Theseus. Knowing by her arts who he was, and fearing the loss of her
influence with her husband if Theseus should be acknowledged as his son,
she filled the mind of AEgeus with suspicions of the young stranger, and
induced him to present him a cup of poison; but at the moment when
Theseus stepped forward to take it, the sight of the sword which he wore
discovered to his father who he was, and prevented the fatal draught.
Medea, detected in her arts, fled once more from deserved punishment,
and arrived in Asia, where the country afterwards called Media, received
its name from her. Theseus was acknowledged by his father, and declared
his successor.

The Athenians were at that
time in deep affliction, on account of the tribute which they were
forced to pay to Minos, king of Crete. This tribute consisted of seven
youths and seven maidens, who were sent every year to be devoured by the
Minotaur, a monster with a bull's body and a human head. It was
exceedingly strong
and fierce, and was kept in a labyrinth constructed by Daedalus, so
artfully contrived that whoever was enclosed in it could by no means
find his way out unassisted. Here the Minotaur roamed, and was fed with
human victims.

Theseus resolved to deliver
his countrymen from this calamity, or to die in the attempt.
Accordingly, when the time of sending off the tribute came, and the
youths and maidens were, according to custom, drawn by lot to be sent,
he offered himself as one of the victims, in spite of the entreaties of
his father. The ship departed under black sails, as usual, which Theseus
promised his father to change for white, in case of his returning
victorious. When they arrived in Crete, the youths and maidens were
exhibited before Minos; and Ariadne, the daughter of the king, being
present, became deeply enamoured of Theseus, by whom her love was
readily returned. She furnished him with a sword, with which to
encounter the Minotaur, and with a clue of thread by which he might find
his way out of the labyrinth.

He was successful, slew the
Minotaur, escaped from the labyrinth, and taking Ariadne as the
companion of his way, with his rescued companions sailed for Athens. On
their way they stopped at the island of Naxos, where Theseus abandoned
Ariadne, leaving her asleep. His excuse for this ungrateful treatment of
his benefactress was that Minerva appeared to him in a dream and
commanded him to do so.

On approaching the coast of
Attica, Theseus forgot the signal appointed by his father, and neglected
to raise the white sails, and the old king, thinking his son had
perished, put an end to his own life. Theseus thus became king of
Athens.

One of the most celebrated
of the adventures of Theseus is his expedition against the Amazons. He
assailed them before they had recovered from the attack of Hercules, and
carried off their queen Antiope. The Amazons in their turn invaded the
country of Athens and penetrated into the city itself; and the final
battle in which Theseus overcame them was fought in the very midst of
the city. This battle was one of the favourite subjects of the ancient
sculptors, and is commemorated in several works of art that are still
extant.

The friendship between
Theseus and Pirithous was of a most intimate nature, yet it originated
in the midst of arms. Pirithous had made an irruption into the plain of
Marathon, and carried off the herds of the king of Athens. Theseus went
to repel the plunderers. The moment Pirithous beheld him, he was seized
with admiration; he stretched out his hand as a token of peace, and
cried, "Be judge thyself- what satisfaction dost thou
require?" "Thy friendship," replied the Athenian, and
they swore inviolable fidelity. Their deeds corresponded to their
professions, and they ever continued true brothers in arms. Each of them
aspired to espouse a daughter of Jupiter. Theseus fixed his choice on
Helen, then but a child, afterwards so celebrated as the cause of the
Trojan war, and with the aid of his friend he carried her off. Pirithous
aspired to the wife (Persephone) of the monarch of Erebus; and Theseus,
though aware of the danger, accompanied the ambitious lover in his
descent to the underworld. But Pluto (Hades) seized and set them on an
enchanted rock at his palace gate, where they remained till Hercules
arrived and liberated Theseus, leaving Pirithous to his fate.

After the death of Antiope,
Theseus married Phaedra, daughter of Minos, king of Crete. Phaedra saw
in Hippolytus, the son of Theseus, a youth endowed with all the graces
and virtues of his father, and of an age corresponding to her own. She
loved him, but he repulsed her advances, and her love was changed to
hate. She used her influence over her infatuated husband to cause him to
be jealous of his son, and he imprecated the vengeance of Neptune
(Poseidon) upon him. As Hippolytus was one day driving his chariot along
the shore, a sea-monster raised himself above the waters, and frightened
the horses so that they ran away and dashed the chariot to pieces.
Hippolytus was killed, but by Diana's assistance AEsculapius restored
him to life. Diana (Artemis) removed Hippolytus from the power of his
deluded father and false stepmother, and placed him in Italy under the
protection of the nymph Egeria.

Theseus at length lost the
favour of his people, and retired to the court of Lycomedes, king of
Scyros, who at first received him kindly, but afterwards treacherously
slew him. In a later age the Athenian general Cimon discovered the place
where his remains were laid, and caused them to be removed to Athens,
where they were deposited in a temple called the Theseum, erected in
honour of the hero.

The queen of the Amazons
whom Theseus espoused is by some called Hippolyta. That is the name she
bears in Shakespeare's "Midsummer Night's Dream," - the
subject of which is the festivities attending the nuptials of Theseus
and Hippolyta.

Mrs. Hemans has a poem on
the ancient Greek tradition that the "Shade of Theseus"
appeared strengthening his countrymen at the battle of Marathon.

Theseus is a semi-historical
personage. It is recorded of him that he united the several tribes by
whom the territory of Attica was then possessed into one state, of which
Athens was the capital. In commemoration of this important event, he
instituted the festival of Panathenaea, in honour of Minerva (Athena),
the patron deity of Athens. This festival differed from the other
Grecian games chiefly in two particulars. It was peculiar to the
Athenians, and its chief feature was a solemn procession in which the
Peplus, or sacred robe of Minerva, was carried to the Parthenon, and
suspended before the statue of the goddess. The Peplus was covered with
embroidery, worked by select virgins of the noblest families in Athens.
The procession consisted of persons of all ages and both sexes. The old
men carried olive branches in their hands, and the young men bore arms.
The young women carried baskets on their heads, containing the sacred
utensils, cakes, and all things necessary for the sacrifices.

The procession formed the
subject of the bas-reliefs which embellished the outside of the temple
of the Parthenon. A considerable portion of these sculptures is now in
the British Museum among those known as the "Elgin marbles."